Ridings quotes a 1924 Tribune editorial: “Maybe his bad record is a help to him. Sometimes we think it is a vote-getter for him. It is so bad it is unbelievable. When the truth is told, people say it cannot be so, and that there must be a vicious reason behind the telling of it."

Posted at 08:52:29 AM

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Well, Eric, it looks like Scott Lee Cohen will be on the ballot this November. Don't you have some crow to eat?

ZORN REPLY -- I believe my prediction was there was no way he'd get the requisite number of valid signatures, and I remain dubious that he did. Quinn et. al. didn't challenge the petitions because of the sheer volume of signatures, but I remain very skeptical that there were 25,000 good ones...he just doesn't have a natural base of support.
Now his vanity project continues, throwing more hundreds of thousands of dollars at a quixotic effort that only stands to harm the party he once said he believed in. A waste. A disgrace.

Comments like Kathy's are what makes this whole scenario scary. A vote for Scott Lee Cohen is tantamount to the "none of the above" that voters discuss with more and more frequency these days, given the weakness of both party candidates.

And the shallowness of people's involvement in the election ("seems like a nice guy", "at least he's honest") makes anything possible. After all, this guy did win the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor.

About "Change of Subject."

"Change of Subject" by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn contains observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order. Links will tend to expire, so seize the day. For an archive of Zorn's latest Tribune columns click here. An explanation of the title of this blog is here. If you have other questions, suggestions or comments, send e-mail to ericzorn at gmail.com.
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Contributing editor Jessica Reynolds is a 2012 graduate of Loyola University Chicago and is the coordinator of the Tribune's editorial board. She can be reached at jreynolds at tribune.com.